


Evilution

by badly_knitted



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Future, Banter, Community: spook_me, Danger, Drama, Future Fic, Gen, Horror, M/M, Monsters, Mystery, Outer Space, Rescue Missions, Spaceships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-12-27 18:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: Jack and Ianto take on a search and rescue mission on a remote planet, home to the Reptile Land theme park and resort.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for spook_me 2019, using Torchwood, Reptile.
> 
> Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.

“Think Jurassic Park, but on a smaller scale and without the man-eating dinosaurs,” Jack said cheerfully. “Reptile Land has been a popular tourist attraction for decades; the people who run it have collected non-sentient reptiles and amphibians from all over the Galactic Federation, many of them critically endangered. Their natural habitats have been carefully recreated so they can be observed and appreciated as nature intended, and the park’s breeding programmes have pulled several species back from the brink of extinction.”

“Sounds like a very worthy enterprise, but why did they pick reptiles to focus on rather than something with more universal appeal? Furry creatures for instance; everyone loves the cute and cuddly.” Ianto had nothing against reptiles, he found many of them fascinating, but from a purely commercial viewpoint he doubted they’d draw the public in as well as most of the universe’s fluffy mammalian and marsupial species might.

“Exactly! I mean sure, a lot of cute furry critters are in danger of extinction too, but there are plenty of organisations out there intent on preserving them precisely because of their universal popularity. Reptiles and amphibians don’t have that going for them, but they’re equally important, they have their own vital roles in various ecosystems. Just because snakes and lizards aren’t as adorable as kneebles and shrodlets doesn’t mean they’re less worthy of protection. Besides, the Regli, the race that founded, and still maintain a controlling interest in Reptile Land, are reptiles themselves; tailless humanoid lizards with smooth, scaly skins. They have a vested interest in educating the rest of the universe on the wonders and beauty of reptilian life.”

Ianto nodded. “I can see how they would. So why exactly are we going there? I mean, not that I wouldn’t be interested in seeing reptiles and such from other worlds, I’m sure it would be very educational, but I get the impression this isn’t strictly a pleasure trip.”

“You’re right, it’s not. Call it a fact-finding mission, and possibly a rescue, depending on whether or not anyone’s still alive to be rescued.”

“Okay, I’ll bite; what happened? Or don’t we know?”

“Let’s just say no one’s entirely sure.”

“Oh, well that’s certainly enlightening.”

Jack smirked at his lover’s sarcastic response. “Here’s what I was told; approximately eight months ago Reptile Land was closed to visitors because a rogue comet was due to pass very close to Erricam, the planet where it’s situated. Space travel in the Erricam solar system was considered potentially hazardous while the comet was in the vicinity, so it seemed like a sensible precaution to shut down tourism for the duration and evacuate all non-essential personnel, just leaving behind a skeleton staff to take care of the exhibits. Erricam is small, about the same size as earth’s moon, and is basically one big resort. There’s a small spaceport, the park itself, tourist accommodation, hotels and stuff, a town with shops and entertainments, housing for staff, and that’s about it. The whole thing takes up less than a quarter of the planet at present, so there’s plenty of room for future expansion. One of the reasons Erricam was chosen as the perfect location for Reptile Land was that it had no native population, not even wildlife; the Regli took a blank slate and turned it into a home away from home for several hundred reptile and amphibian species, then added the resort so the place could more or less pay for itself.”

“Sounds charming, but I gather there’s been some kind of unanticipated problem.”

“That’s a reasonably safe assumption, although exactly what kind of problem has yet to be determined; that’ll be our job.”

“Of course it will; we’re good at that kind of thing.”

“Yes we are.” Jack grinned, obviously relishing the coming adventure. “Anyway, at first the Regli kept in contact with the staff left behind, but as the comet approached, long-range communications went down. That was expected, the comet was emitting all kinds of radiation and static, but the systems should have come back online once interference cleared again. Needless to say, they didn’t. Messages were sent, various scientific institutions attempted to make contact with the planet, but no replies were received. As soon as it was considered safe to do so, a scout ship was despatched to investigate. All but two of the orbiting communications satellites were found to be intact and fully operational, so there was no obvious reason for the lack of response. The ship’s captain reported that they were going to attempt a landing; it was possible that Erricam’s communications array had suffered some sort of damage. The man who’s hiring us, a senior member of Reptile Land’s board of directors, said that a message was received saying the ship had made a safe landing, but that was nine days ago; nothing’s been heard from the captain or any member of her crew since then.”

Jack had gone to the negotiating tables at the Geminex Space Station looking for cargo while Ianto had the Wanderer refuelled, supervised the unloading of the cargo they were carrying, and made sure the various goods got to the right people. The two men had already gained a reputation for being willing to take on exploration assignments, rescues, and other missions most independents would steer clear of no matter how much money they were offered, and Jack had barely taken a seat at a table after registering at the desk as available for hire before a green-haired man from the Rivas Cluster approached, introducing himself as Kalen Murfe. 

Aside from his hair colour Murfe could almost have passed for human if not for the translucent webbing between his fingers, which Jack knew was also to be found between his race’s longer than human toes, a necessity for a race that spent as much time in water as they did on land. The Rivans were also smaller and slighter than humans, few of them more than five feet two in height.

Murfe got right down to business; he wanted to hire Jack and his ship to investigate the situation at Erricam. Curiosity piqued, Jack had got all the details and negotiated a mutually acceptable fee for his services; half to be transferred into their account in advance, the remainder payable on completion of the mission.

“Apparently the captain of the ship sent to Erricam is our employer’s eldest daughter, Hilzen. Naturally, he’s worried about her, but finding anyone willing to put themselves and their ship in possible danger in order to investigate was proving difficult.”

“Until we came along,” Ianto said with a smile.

Jack shrugged. “We’ve never turned down an adventure yet.”

“And we won’t this time either. Looks like we’ll be on our way to Reptile Land as soon as we’ve got the rest of this stuff safely stowed.” Ianto gestured at the stacks of supplies and equipment Murfe had arranged as an addition to the agreed payment.

“Always good to be prepared for anything. We can stow whatever we might need planetside in one of the shuttlecraft once we’re underway. We have no idea what we might find down there so I’d rather not land the Wanderer unless we have to.”

“Sensible,” Ianto agreed. “Well, this lot isn’t getting aboard under its own steam; better get to work.”

With the help of a couple of burly Geminex dockhands, they set about loading everything onto their ship, and barely an hour later, the docking clamps released and a couple of tugs guided the Wanderer clear of the station.

OoOoOoO

The journey to Erricam took five days, during which the two men sorted out what equipment, food, and water supplies they thought they might need down on the planet, stowed them on the largest of the Wanderer’s three shuttles, and thoroughly checked all the shuttle systems. They also readied one of the two smaller shuttles and set its controls so that if necessary it could be called down to the planet on automatic pilot. There was no way of knowing in advance what conditions might be like on the surface, so it never hurt to make contingency plans.

When they arrived in orbit, they didn’t go down right away; first they ran scans of the small planet’s surface, studying it for any kind of volcanic disturbances that might have resulted from its close encounter with the comet. If it had passed near enough it might have exerted a gravitational pull strong enough to cause tremors.

They didn’t find any evidence of volcanic activity, but their scans did reveal a significant number of what appeared to be impact craters.

“I was afraid of that,” Jack sighed. “The planet’s gravity must have captured debris from the comet’s tail as it passed.” 

A few dozen rocks of various sizes looked to have settled into a roughly equatorial orbit, giving Erricam a small asteroid belt that hadn’t existed previously, while a number of the larger, heavier chunks must have made it through the atmosphere without burning up completely to impact with the planet’s surface. There was a fair chance that all the people who’d remained behind to take care of the reptiles had been killed during the bombardment, either by the impacts themselves or in the aftermath. Ianto wondered if any of the reptiles had survived. Maybe it would have been better if everyone had been evacuated in advance of the comet’s arrival, including the park’s exhibits.

“What now?” he asked.

“Now we locate Captain Hilzen’s ship, find a safe place to land, and see if there are any survivors.” No matter how sensitive the Wanderer’s sensors were, they couldn’t pick up a handful of individual life signs from high orbit; the only way to find out if anyone was alive down there was to get a whole lot closer. From low orbit in the shuttle it might be possible to pick up something, but there was a lot of dust in the atmosphere. Rocks the size of small buildings hitting a planet’s surface at speed will do that.

They parked the Wanderer in geostationary orbit a safe distance outside the new asteroid belt, so they’d be able to find her again later; despite her size, from Erricam’s surface she would still be little more than a small speck in the vastness of space, and if they had injured to transport aboard they wouldn’t want to waste time trying to get a fix on her position. That done, they shut down unnecessary systems and made for the shuttle bay, getting into full spacesuits before boarding, although they left the helmets off for now. Conditions planetside were as yet unknown; at the very least, the air quality probably wouldn’t be too great. Better to be safe than dead. Just because they were immortal didn’t mean they could afford to take risks, especially not when other lives might be at stake.

The planet’s relatively small size meant that they’d been able to park closer in than they normally would have and the flight down to the surface would have taken less than an hour if it hadn’t been necessary to circumnavigate Erricam several times just outside the atmosphere in an effort to get more detailed scans of the damage and pinpoint the scout ship. That was their first priority. 

The airborne dust particles made it difficult for the shuttle’s instruments to get a clear picture of the surface and life signs were still proving elusive; the thermal scanners registered an occasional fleeting blip, but it was impossible to tell whether they were indicative of living creatures or merely the result of random hot spots in the vicinity of impact craters.

On their third orbit, they did at least manage to get a lock on what appeared to be a small ship, so as they came around again they dropped down into the atmosphere and zeroed in on its position, scouting out the area thoroughly before bringing the shuttle gently down on a solid slab of plascrete near the centre of what had once been the planet’s small spaceport. The pilot of the other ship had made the mistake of setting down too close to the edge of the landing field, and by now the already destabilised surface had given way, crumbling beneath the ship’s weight until the small vessel had succumbed to gravity and tipped halfway onto its side. It wouldn’t be going anywhere without extensive repairs, judging by the buckling to its hull, clearly visible even from a distance of several hundred yards.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” Ianto said, checking the instruments in front of him one last time before shutting them down. “No life signs. How many would have been onboard?”

“Aside from the captain, there were four crewmembers,” Jack replied. “Presumably all Rivans, although I could be wrong about that. I don’t recall Murfe telling me; probably should’ve asked. Park personnel numbered twenty-two; twelve Rivans, six Vilch, and four Regli.”

“Vilch? Not sure I’ve come across them before.”

“Humanoid, maybe five-ten in height, bald, light brown leathery skin…”

“Sounds like you’re describing a Weevil.”

Jack laughed. “I’ll admit there are some slight similarities in general appearance, but the Vilch are toothless vegetarians. Not the brightest people in the galaxy but very placid and good-natured. They generally work as labourers. Nice folks, not very stimulating conversationalists, but friendly.”

“Right. So that means we’re looking for a grand total of twenty-seven people, plus any of the exhibits we might come across.”

“We’re here primarily for the people, the crew of that ship first since they have the best chance of still being alive, then the park staff if any of them came through the bombardment in one piece. Once we’ve sorted all that out, it’ll be up to the board of directors whether or not they try to salvage anything else from down here.”

“But what about the endangered species?”

“You want to spend weeks here searching under rocks and in crevices for small lizards and amphibians?”

Ianto stared at the shuttle’s forward viewscreen, taking in the bleak view. “Not particularly.”

“Besides, even if we did try to salvage any of the residents, where would we put them? A lot of them probably require very specialised environments; we’d most likely kill them by trying to save them. No, right now they stand a better chance if we just leave them to fend for themselves.”

“I guess you’re right.” Ianto unfastened his seat restraints and stood, reaching for his helmet and putting it on as Jack shut down the viewscreen and a few other non-essential systems to conserve power. After giving each other’s suits a final safety check, the two men picked up portable scanners, and clipped flashlights, small tool pouches, and first-aid kits to their suit belts. Jack opened the weapons locker, taking out two hand lasers, slotting one into his holster and handing the other to Ianto, along with extra power packs.

“Just in case we find anything injured.”

“Hopefully we won’t need them.” Ianto holstered the weapon and secured it as Jack slung the strap of a larger laser cutter over his shoulder.

“Best be prepared; might have to cut our way inside the ship.”

“Should I take one as well?”

Jack shook his head. “One should be enough. No sense both of us being overburdened.”

Leaving the shuttle via the forward airlock they made their way across the cracked and blistered plascrete towards the scout ship, scrambling carefully down the pile of rubble at the edge of the landing field before making a complete circuit of the craft, looking for a way in.

Ianto paused, frowning, running his gloved fingers lightly across deep scoring that marred part of the hull near the small vessel’s nose.

“What’ve you got?” Jack joined him.

“Not sure.” There were four shallow parallel scrapes etched into the surface. “What do these look like to you?”

They exchanged a look; if it had only been one or two scratches they could have easily been dismissed as scrapes caused by sharp rocks, but not four, and not the way they were arranged. More than anything else they resembled claw marks. Ianto spread his hand out, measuring it against the gouges, but if they were indeed made by claws, whatever made them had hands quite a bit bigger than his own.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Jack said. “I didn’t ask much about the lizards on display here so there could be some large species wandering around loose, or this could have been caused by some kind of tool, a grapple maybe.”

If that were the case, then where was the grapple now, and where was the person who’d deployed it? Ianto refrained from asking; he was reasonably certain the marks hadn’t been made by any kind of tool, and from the expression on Jack’s face, he didn’t believe that either. Something was out there, something with claws. It could be a member of the scout ship’s crew, of course; like Jack had said earlier, they might not all be Rivans. Or maybe it was one of the Regli; Jack hadn’t mentioned whether or not they had claws, but right now Ianto wasn’t inclined to ask.

“Okay, let’s find a way in, see if anyone’s home.” No life signs were registering on their handheld scanners, so either the scout ship was shielded too heavily for the scanners to penetrate, or if anyone was aboard, they were no longer alive. Whichever was the case, they needed to find out.

They continued their search around to the other side of the craft, where they found an airlock that was accessible if Ianto gave Jack a boost onto the stubby retractable wing used for atmospheric flight. Once there, Jack reached down a hand to assist his lover. Surprisingly, the control panel, set inside a small hatch by the door, was still operational and the airlock’s outer door slid open, grating a little from the dust. The two men stepped inside, closing the door behind them and waiting impatiently while the airlock cycled and the inner hatch opened.

There was still power because the lights came up as they entered, giving them a clear view of the main cabin’s interior. Bits and pieces of equipment were strewn everywhere, along with personal belongings, most likely scattered when the ship had toppled over. There was nobody about though, and no bodies to be seen either. 

“I’ll check aft in the crew quarters,” Ianto said. “You check the bridge and the engine room.” That was accessed via a hatch in the floor just outside the door to the bridge.

They searched the scout ship end to end, checking in every nook and cranny, but there was no sign of the crew, either living or dead, and no blood, so it was a reasonably safe bet that all five crewmembers had been in one piece when they’d exited their ship, presumably under their own stream, to begin their investigation. The last recorded entry in the ship’s log was Captain Hilzen, an attractive green-haired woman, reporting a safe landing.

“The planet has suffered significant damage, bombarded by space debris. We’re about to commence the search for survivors; we’ll start with the staff housing, while my communications officer assesses the damage to the relay station. If we fail to find anyone, we’ll extend the search to the resort itself, and then the town. It’s possible the staff might have been forced to relocate for some reason. Hilzen Murfe, Captain of the scout ship Izur, out.” The date stamp on the entry was fourteen days earlier; it must have been recorded shortly after the ship landed.

“Well, now we know which way they intended to go that at least gives us some idea of where to start our own search,” Jack commented. “Come on; no point wasting any more time here.”

Ianto gave the main cabin a final look before following Jack back into the airlock. “What I want to know is, since the ship is still habitable and with plenty of supplies aboard, why haven’t any of the crew returned here since they left?” 

If anyone had, they would have updated the ship’s log, at the very least reporting their progress with the search.

“I don’t know,” Jack said quietly. “That’s what we’re here to find out.”

“Where to first?”

“The spaceport buildings and the communications array,” Jack said. “After that we’ll follow in Captain Hilzen’s footsteps; staff quarters, the resort buildings, then the town. If we haven’t found the Izur’s crew or any sign of the missing staff members by then…” He trailed off, setting the airlock to cycle them out, and a few minutes later they exited the ship, closing the airlock behind them and sliding down off the wing.

TBC in Part 2


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Ianto find the first signs of the missing staff... and something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written For: spook_me 2019, using Torchwood, Reptile.
> 
> Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.

They had a lot of ground to cover and it was already late in the planet’s seventeen-hour long day, approaching mid afternoon, unless Ianto missed his guess, which was unlikely; he’d developed an uncanny knack for measuring time, no matter what planet they were on, and was seldom wrong.

Ianto paused to study the position of the sun overhead. He’d studied all the available data on Erricam during the flight from Geminex, knew its seasons, the ratio of day to night at this time of year, the planet’s period of rotation… He made the necessary calculations almost without conscious thought.

“We’d best get a move on; the sun will be setting in less than four hours, full night in about six.”

Not that the sunlight was all that bright anyway, thanks to the amount of dust in the atmosphere; there was a hazy, unreal quality to the light that reminded him of what he’d experienced during a partial solar eclipse back on earth.

Jack nodded, turning to scramble back up onto the landing field and setting off at a jog across the cracked surface. Ianto caught up and fell into step beside him, both of them constantly scanning their surroundings both visually and with their instruments.

The port buildings were still more or less standing but their walls were cracked and unstable. A quick check of the interior revealed no sign of life. Contrary to expectations, the communications array was miraculously undamaged, still had a power supply, and appeared fully operational. That didn’t bode well for the staff left behind to take care of everything following the evacuation. Surely if anyone had still been alive they would have tried to get a message out. 

If anything, the staff housing was in a worse state than the spaceport. A boulder the size of the shuttlecraft Jack and Ianto had flown down in had hit the farthest edge of what must once have been a picturesque little village, made up of cosy cottages, each standing on its own plot of land. Even under layers of dust, it was clear the gardens had been well-tended, filled with flowers, fruit, and vegetables, although now most of the vegetation was dead or dying, only the trees and shrubs still making a valiant effort to survive.

Some of the cottages had been damaged or outright crushed by flying debris, while others had cracked open thanks to the concussion wave created by the initial impact. What sent a chill down Jack and Ianto’s spines, however, was that the doors and windows to a couple of the least damaged buildings appeared to have been ripped from their hinges by powerful claws, gouges in the walls bearing an unsettling resemblance to the ones on the nose of the scout ship. Inside one of the torn open cottages, they found the walls, ceiling, and floor of the main room splattered with what their instruments identified as the blood of a Vilch.

“That can’t be good.”

“No,” Jack agreed, “and I’m not especially eager to meet whatever did this.”

The furnishings had been ripped to shreds and scattered as if in some kind of frenzy, and there were deep gouges in the walls.

“Neither am I, but we have a job to do. The scout ship crew might still be alive. Before we go looking for them though, I vote we stop by our shuttle first and arm ourselves with something that has a bit more stopping power than the laser pistols.”

“Agreed.” If there was even a chance there might be some unknown creature with a taste for flesh lurking out there it would be stupid to wander around without an adequate means of defending themselves.

Back at the shuttlecraft, Jack opened the weapon locker again and passed Ianto a high-powered projectile weapon not too dissimilar to his old Torchwood Special, but lighter in weight and with a larger magazine holding fifty small but deadly rounds. Ianto clipped four spare magazines onto his belt as Jack selected a needle gun for himself, along with several spare cartridges. The slivers of metal it fired would stop a charging Bozog so it should be effective against whatever they might find themselves dealing with.

Jack eyed the big plasma gun then shook his head; it was a formidable weapon, but it was also heavy and impractical considering they had a lot of ground to cover.

Ianto tapped him on the shoulder and passed him a small but powerful lamp that fitted into a clip on his helmet. Jack accepted it with a nod, fitting it into place; if their search continued into the planet’s night, as seemed probable, they’d need to use some sort of flashlight and the helmet lamps would leave their hands free.

Reaching past Jack, Ianto picked up a sharp hunting knife in a sheath and added that to the equipment on his belt. “You never know. Laser knives are all very well, but they have a bad habit of cauterising wounds, and that’s not always desirable.”

“You, Ianto Jones, can be quite bloodthirsty at times. I’m not sure I approve.”

“I guarantee if I have to use this you won’t be complaining.” Ianto’s tone was dry as the Sahara.

“You’re probably right about that. Ready?”

“What do you think?”

Armed to the teeth, and as prepared as they could be to face whatever they might run into, the two immortals exited the shuttle once more, and Jack used the controls on the sleeve of his suit to activate the craft’s forceshield. If there was indeed some kind of dangerous creature roaming the planet, the last thing they wanted was for it to rip open their primary means of escape. They could bring another shuttle down on autopilot, but they’d have to wait for it to arrive and if they were under attack that wouldn’t be ideal. Better to take all possible precautions with the one they already had.

It was almost dusk by now, Erricam’s sun a pale, hazy smear just above the horizon as Jack and Ianto trekked across the landing field heading this time towards the Reptile Land resort. 

It was a bit of a wasted trip. They got there just as the last faint rays of sunlight were fading from the sky only to find most of the hotel complex reduced to a jumble of rubble at the bottom of a deep crater. Some of the outlying villas had survived more or less intact, but as with the staff cottages, their doors and windows had been ripped open. At least this time there was no trace of blood anywhere so presumably no one had been sheltering inside at the time.

Half a mile beyond the ruins of the resort, the Reptile Land theme park began, but the surrounding fences and the gates had been all but obliterated and the ground churned up. Even the cheery signs were damaged, some tipped over, several trampled into the ground, and those still standing scored with claw marks.

“Doesn’t look very welcoming, does it?” Jack commented.

“Wouldn’t be my destination of choice for a vacation, but I suppose it’s not looking its best right now. Do we go on or turn back and continue the search in the morning?”

A loud hissing snarl from somewhere inside the park made up their minds for them; glancing at each other, they clicked their helmet lamps on, drew their weapons, and turned in the direction the sound had come from. 

“Whatever that was, it did not sound friendly. If any of the scout ship’s crew are still alive, we should probably find them before it does,” Jack said.

“Fun times.” Ianto checked his weapon and squared his shoulders. “After you.”

Jack pouted. “Why do I always have to go first?”

“You don’t; I’ll take the lead if you prefer…”

“No, that’s okay, just stay behind me and watch your back.”

“I have done this kind of thing before.”

“I know, we just have no idea yet what we might be up against. Aside from the staff, the exhibits, and the crew there shouldn’t be anything here. The planet’s supposed to be uninhabited; no native life forms.”

“Maybe something was hibernating underground and the recent bombardment woke it up.”

“Well that’s a cheery thought!” Jack scowled at his lover before stalking off into the park.

“It’s possible.” Ianto hurried after Jack.

“Never said it wasn’t, it’s just not a particularly pleasant possibly.”

The two men picked their way across the uneven ground, skirting their way around the occasional crater, peering into the depths as they passed, just in case anything was lurking down there, but there were no signs of life anywhere. If not for the sound they’d heard earlier, they could have believed nothing down here had survived Erricam’s close encounter with the comet. But something had made that sound; it hadn’t been the wind because there wasn’t any, and Ianto doubted it had been a rockslide either.

After walking for almost an hour, past what was left of the various reptile enclosures in this section of the park, they reached what had once been a group of low buildings, although they were little more than piles of rubble now, with corroded steel reinforcement rods sticking out here and there. It was hard to say what purpose they’d served; possibly they’d been souvenir shops, a café, facilities for visitors, the kinds of things you’d find in any zoo, or maybe they’d housed some of the more delicate species. There wasn’t enough left of them to even make an educated guess. 

What they used to be hardly mattered because the first thing Jack and Ianto saw when they stepped past a crumbling section of wall were the skulls, perhaps a dozen of them, humanoid but somehow not quite human. They were piled in a corner, on top of other bones, all of them gnawed clean, and they didn’t have the look of age about them; they were too white, too fresh.

“I think we just found the park’s skeleton staff,” Ianto muttered, wincing at the unintentional bad joke.

Jack didn’t appear to notice. “What’s left of them anyway. Looks like mostly Rivans, and this.” He gently nudged a larger skull, too round for anything resembling a human. “Vilch.”

“There’re a few more over there.” Ianto pointed.

A careful search revealed the dismembered skeletons of several more beings. Altogether, they counted the remains of four Vilch and sixteen Rivans.

“Where are the other two Vilch?” Jack mused.

“Forget them for a moment; I thought you said there were only twelve Rivan members of staff.”

“I did.” Jack gave a gusty sigh. “The others must be the Izur’s crew.”

“Which means we’re still short by one Rivan, plus two Vilch.”

“And four Regli; none of these are Regli skulls, they’re too small and the wrong shape.” Jack gestured at their grisly find.

“Right, so until we find evidence to the contrary, we potentially have seven survivors.”

“Maybe.” Jack was bent over, carefully easing something from beneath the second pile of bones.

“What’s that?” Ianto joined him.

“Breather.” Jack straightened up, holding the shredded breathing mask, designed to filter out airborne pollution. “Ship’s crew were probably all wearing them. No sign of fabric though, which begs the question of where their clothing went.”

“I’d say the more important issue is where their bodies went.”

Jack looked flatly at his lover. “I’d think that was self-evident; the bones have been gnawed, obviously something ate the rest.”

“Yes, but exactly what ate them and where is it now?” Ianto looked around nervously.

“I don’t know, but safe to say that whatever it is, this is its nest and it’s most likely out hunting. We heard it earlier…” Jack looked out into the night. “It could be anywhere, it’s got a whole planet to roam around on, but it’s a safe bet it’ll return here eventually. Maybe we should just sit tight and wait.”

“What about the seven missing people? Are we just going to hang around here while it systematically hunts down and kills them all?”

Sighing, Jack shook his head. “No, you’re right, we can’t do that; not while there’s still a chance we can save them. Looks like we’ll have to do some hunting of out own.”

“Let’s get to it then. The sooner we find any survivors and get out of here the happier I’ll be.”

“The happier we’ll both be,” Jack corrected. “This place is starting to give me the creeps.”

“Only starting to?” Ianto muttered as he traipsed after his lover to continue their search. “Sometimes I worry about you.”

“Only sometimes?” Jack threw back, a faint chuckle in his voice.

It wasn’t one of the survivors they encountered first, however. Thankfully they saw the creature before it caught sight of them.

“What was that you said back at Geminex Station about Jurassic Park?” Ianto hissed.

“That is definitely not one of the park’s exhibits,” Jack replied, voice equally hushed even though it was doubtful the creature would hear them since all their communications were through their suit radios, transmitted directly into the earpieces they wore inside their helmets. “They didn’t have anything that big!”

What they were looking at was undoubtedly a reptile, bipedal, and approximately nine feet tall. Its legs, covered in green scales, were powerfully muscled and ended in three-toed feet, each toe tipped with a heavy claw. The chest and stomach were protected by some kind of natural bony armour plating beneath the leathery skin, while the back, shoulders, and head were not only scaled but also covered in short, wicked looking horny spikes. The arms were long, and the hands five-fingered, again terminating in viciously sharp claws.

The creature’s head gave the impression of being a bit small for its body, and the mouth far too wide, lined with teeth like knives. A forked tongue darted in and out, tasting the air, making Ianto glad he was wearing an impermeable spacesuit; the monster wouldn’t be able to scent him through that. He didn’t know how well it could see with its small, red eyes, so he kept as still as he could, uncomfortably aware that his and Jack’s helmet lamps were shining out like beacons in the deepening darkness.

“So what do we do now?” Ianto kept his eyes fixed on the slightly hunched figure as it stalked slowly across a rocky landscape, presumably the carefully recreated habitat of one of the exhibits, visible only because the first of Erricam’s two large moons had already risen, casting diffuse light across the ground. He didn’t want to risk losing track of it, preferring to know exactly where it was.

“Any doubt in your mind that’s what’s responsible for the bones we found back there?”

“None whatsoever.”

“So we kill it; problem solved.”

“And what if it’s sentient? Some race we’ve never encountered before?”

“You want to go out there and try making conversation with it, be my guest, but anything that’s happy to eat twenty sentient beings…”

“Okay, you’ve made your point; we kill it. We can worry about whether or not it was sentient later. Just one more question.” Inside his helmet, Ianto gnawed on his bottom lip.

“Which is?”

“Have we got enough firepower? I wouldn’t want to shoot at that thing and just piss it off. It’s pretty well armoured.”

“Good point. Best get as close to it as we can then aim for its mouth, eyes, underarms, anywhere the armour looks weakest. I knew I should’ve brought the plasma gun.”

“It’s a bit late to go back for it now.” Ianto took a quick look around the edge of the boulder he and Jack were now hiding behind, re-checking the monster’s position; it was much closer now, moving in their general direction, and if it didn’t change course would pass maybe four or five yards to their right. “This better work; I have no desire to find out if I can come back from being eaten.”

“I’m not eager to put that to the test either. If it comes close enough I’ll just use the laser cutter, take its legs right off. Might slow it down a bit.”

“And you called me bloodthirsty.”

“When it’s a matter of life or death, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we’re the ones left alive.”

“Fair point.”

Luckily for them, the lizard creature seemed not to have detected their presence; it was sampling the air as it stalked across the barren ground, obviously following a scent. Ideally, they would have let it go past and then attacked it from behind, the hell with sportsmanship, but its back was even more heavily armoured than its front, and getting hit by ricochets wouldn’t do them any good, so they waited until the last moment before jumping out of cover and opening fire with everything they’d got, aiming for its head and neck. 

It swung one long arm at them, slashing with its claws, while the other swatted at the tiny projectiles being fired at it as if they were nothing more than annoying insects, but the projectiles and needles hit and they stung, and when the creature opened its mouth to hiss at them, Jack swung the laser cutter around and fired straight between the gaping jaws, obliterating a good portion of its head. It toppled over like a felled tree and lay still, unmoving.

“Job done.” Jack grinned triumphantly back at his partner, but Ianto was looking past right him.

“Uh, not quite yet. There’s another one.” He pointed.

Jack spun around, eyes scanning the area, seeking out what Ianto had spotted. This creature was the same as the first but moving on all fours, head swinging slowly from side to side, tongue flickering in and out of its gaping mouth. 

“Retreat and regroup,” he ordered, grabbing Ianto by the arm and pulling him away.

The second of the lizards had no immediate interest in them; drawn more by the scent of fresh blood, as soon as it reached the first lizard’s body it settled down to eat, which pretty much answered the question of whether or not the beasts were intelligent. While some sentient species did for one reason or another eat their own kind, there were generally elaborate rituals involved, and they tended to frown on outsiders doing the killing for them. With its attention directed elsewhere, it proved easier to dispatch than the first one as Jack simply approached from behind and used the laser cutter to slice its head most of the way off.

Jack studied the two bodies carefully, tipping the second one over onto its back, with Ianto’s assistance.

“I wonder how many more of these things might be out there.” Ianto stood guard, gun at the ready.

“Two more, most likely.” Jack straightened up.

“Huh?” Ianto turned to stare at him. “How d’you work that out? Do you know what these things are?”

“I’m not a hundred percent certain, but I have a feeling they might be the Regli, or at least used to be before… something happened to them. It’s like they’ve evolved somehow from a peaceful, civilised people into…” Jack shrugged. “Monstrous versions of themselves. Look, it’s just a theory, I don’t have any proof, and these things are taller, more muscular than any Regli I’ve ever met, but the similarities are hard to ignore. Five fingers and three toes is a rarity, most species have the same number of fingers as toes; the Regli have always been a bit of an anomaly in that respect. Then there are the wide mouths and flattish faces… Okay, Regli are omnivores and these are clearly carnivores, but still, it would explain why we didn’t find any of the Regli among the dead.”

“But why would the comet only affect the Regli, and not the Vilch or the Rivans?”

“How do we know it didn’t? All we’ve found are the skeletons of the other two races; we’ve got no way of knowing whether or not they experienced their own transformations before the bigger, stronger creatures killed and ate them.”

It was a good point.

“Assuming you’re right, that would leave two more of these monsters still out there, and potentially only three survivors that may or may not have been similarly affected. I don’t know if that puts us in a better or worse position than before, but I guess we’d better get on with our search before we run into any more of these things.”

“The laser cutter’s down to less than a quarter charge. How much ammunition do you have left?” Jack asked.

Ianto checked his gun. “This magazine’s about two-thirds capacity and I’ve got one spare, plus two re-loads for the laser pistol.”

“Didn’t look like the pistols had much effect on these creatures, and I only have two more cartridges for the needle gun.”

“You’re thinking of going back to the shuttle for the plasma gun?”

“It would make short work of the other two nasties, or any other hostiles we might come across. I could take that and you could have the laser cutter with a couple of spare power packs. Better to delay the search for an hour or two than to run out of ammunition while battling one of our friends here.” Jack nudged the nearest dead monster with his foot.

“That’s true. Okay then, back to the shuttle it is, but we need to resume the search as soon as we’ve re-armed. If there are still survivors…”

Jack nodded understanding. So far during their search the only life signs they’d picked up on their scanners had been those of the lizard creatures, but that didn’t mean there was nothing alive still out there. The dust still hanging in the air was interfering with their instruments to the point that their effective range was reduced to somewhere in the region of fifty galactic rels, which in earth measurements was approximately twenty-seven yards. Anything beyond that wouldn’t register; they could already have passed relatively close to the survivors without even knowing.

On the plus side, at least they wouldn’t have any trouble finding their way back to the shuttle; its beacon was a great deal more powerful than the portable scanners, and their suits had a lock on its position at all times. Rather than retracing the circuitous route they’d taken to get here, they could head straight towards it by the most direct route, only detouring around any obstructions they ran into, and cut their return journey by more than half.

Jack logged their current coordinates into his suit’s computer, Ianto beside him doing the same so that they could return to this point once they were re-armed. Before leaving Ianto also crouched down by the dead lizards, snapping open a pouch on his belt and taking samples of blood, scales, and flesh from both of them for later analysis. With luck that might provide answers to whether these were two of the missing Regli, evolved out of all recognition, or something else entirely.

Snapping the pouch closed, Ianto rose to his feet, and weapons at the ready he and Jack returned to the shuttle once more. It was a good thing they’d packed the big gun; they might well need it before the night was over.

TBC in Part 3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has anyone survived on Erricam? Jack and Ianto won’t end their search until all of the missing are accounted for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for spook_me 2019, using Torchwood, Reptile.
> 
> Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.

Armed well enough to take on a T-Rex if necessary, although Ianto sincerely hoped they wouldn’t come across anything worse than they’d already faced, Jack and Ianto headed back to where they’d left the two dead lizard creatures, ready to continue their search from there.

They didn’t encounter anything, or pick up any life signs on their scanners, until they neared the two bodies, but then the small screens lit up with dozens of tiny blips. The two men picked up the pace, treading carefully and quietly, rounding the rock they’d hidden behind earlier to be confronted by an unexpected sight.

At first, Ianto wondered if the creatures they’d killed somehow shared his and Jack’s inability to stay dead; they appeared to be twitching all over, but almost immediately he realised the impression of movement was actually caused by a host of small reptiles and amphibians, swarming over the bodies, feasting.

“At least those things are serving a useful purpose now,” Jack said mildly. “And if they were once the Regli, they’re fulfilling their duty by caring for the exhibits. Plenty of food for everyone.”

“The carnivores anyway. The vegetarian species are out of luck.” Ianto frowned at the small creatures. “You know the saying, ‘You are what you eat’? I hope what they’re eating doesn’t make all of them transform into something dangerous. We’d really have a fight on out hands then.”

“Not much we can do about it right now anyway. A fully equipped scientific expedition can be sent later, if the board of directors think it’s warranted; our priority is still the search for survivors. At least now we can report back that some of the exhibits are still alive, if not thriving. They’ve probably all been preying on each other since their habitats got wrecked, the stronger, bigger species eating the smaller ones. I don’t envy the people who’ll have to round them all up and try to figure out what survived and what didn’t; that’ll be one hell of a job. Let’s just leave these little guys to their feast; might be the first decent meal they’ve had in weeks.”

They skirted around the corpses and continued on through the park, the ground ahead of them lit by the diffuse radiance of Erricam’s two moons, both having now risen, and the brighter beams of their helmet lamps. As they walked, they spotted countless scurrying shapes heading in the opposite direction, more reptiles going to join the feeding frenzy. It made walking difficult, since Jack and Ianto were trying to keep one eye on their surroundings, the other on their scanners, and now had to watch where they were putting their feet too, not wanting to trample innocent and possibly valuable creatures to death. But the further they went the fewer of the small reptiles they encountered, although they did find the bones of several larger lizards, perhaps herbivores that had become dinner for some of the larger carnivorous species.

Reaching the perimeter fence at the far side of the park, which was miraculously still mostly intact, they turned to follow it, intending to work their way around to the main entrance again. The park covered almost ten square miles, a lot of ground for two people to search even in optimum conditions, the task made considerably more difficult by the rough terrain, but splitting up wasn’t an option, especially if there really were more of the monstrous lizard creatures about.

“Maybe they already killed and ate each other,” Jack said hopefully. “Ran out of people to eat and decided their own kind was more useful as food.”

“We can hope,” Ianto agreed, perking up slightly at the thought. That hope was soon dashed though as only a short while later the sound of a weapon being fired split the darkness, and both men heard the same hissing snarl as earlier, although this time it seemed further away. “Or maybe not,” Ianto sighed as he and Jack headed towards the sounds, making what speed they could over the uneven ground.

Jack couldn’t go all that fast anyway, burdened as he was beneath the size and weight of the plasma gun. The laser cutter was lighter, but still awkward to carry, bouncing about on Ianto’s shoulder as he ran, and it wasn’t long before they slowed to a jog, for their own safety on the treacherous terrain as well as to ensure they didn’t reach the source of the intermittent hissing too spent to deal with the creature responsible.

They were forced to detour around a deep crater that abruptly loomed in their path, but picked the wrong direction, meaning they had to climb over the wrecked fence surrounding one of the park’s habitats in order to get back on track. It was awkward but unavoidable since a few yards beyond the crater there was an undamaged section of fencing that stretched as far as they could see, too high for them to climb in space suits and topped with some kind of barbed wire to prevent tourists trying to climb in with the exhibits. Ianto went first, reaching down to pull the plasma gun up, then Jack scrambled up beside him, looping the strap around himself once more. Both men were breathing hard.

“Could’ve done without that,” Jack panted.

“You’re the one wanted to bring that thing; don’t blame me if it’s too much for you to handle.”

“Bite me!” Jack snapped back. “You just wait until this beauty saves your life.”

“Been there, done that,” Ianto said in a bored tone, flashing Jack a grin. “You okay to keep going or do you need to rest for a bit and get your breath back, old man?”

“Are you serious? I was doing stuff like this before your grandparents were born. If anyone needs to rest it’s you. Come on, lazybones, up and at ‘em!”

“Please, after you,” Ianto gestured graciously. “Age before beauty.”

Jack laughed. “I may be older than you, but I still look damned good for my age.” He grew serious again. “Keep your eyes peeled, we must be getting close.”

“You too.” Scrambling down the other side of the ruined fence they pushed on in the direction they’d been heading, but when they heard weapons’ fire again it was coming from a different direction.

“Damnit!” Jack muttered, changing course. “Why’d they have to move?”

“Maybe because whoever’s shooting doesn’t know we’re looking for them,” Ianto suggested.

“Oh come on, they must have heard us shooting earlier!”

“Perhaps, but then we stopped and went back to our shuttle. For all we know, whoever that is out there could be trying to find us.”

“Great, so we could wind up chasing each other around all night.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow, looking enquiringly at his lover through his helmet’s faceplate. “You got something better to do?” Seeing Jack’s grin, he shook his head. “Or course you do; forget I said that.” 

He set off at a fast jog, Jack practically on his heels, this time heading deeper into the park again. In less than half an hour they found themselves once more approaching the jumble of buildings near the centre of the park, where the creatures that may or may not have once been the Regli had made their nest. This time, however, they were coming at them from a different direction. 

Through gaps in the crumbling walls they caught sight of movement; one of the lizard creatures appeared, having climbed up a pile of rubble to crouch at the top, its back half turned to them. It was focused on a still mostly intact section of wall some distance ahead of it, and as it let out another one of those hissing snarls, they could just make out the flickering movement of its tongue tasting the air.

Jack and Ianto exchanged a glance, not needing to say a word, and started forwards again, Jack heading straight for the monster while Ianto, with less to carry, circled wide to the left, aiming to reach whoever was behind the wall and make sure they kept their head down. Plasma guns the size of the one Jack was carrying could be a bit indiscriminate and it wouldn’t do to accidentally kill one of the survivors they’d been looking for.

Over his earpiece, Ianto heard Jack say, “I’m in position; got a clear shot at our friend.”

“Hang on, I’m nearly there,” Ianto answered, voice tight, as he dodged around boulders, keeping low, not wanting to get shot at by mistake. Then he spotted the figure, ahead and to his right, a small, slight woman dressed in ship’s overalls and a breathing mask like the one he and Jack had found earlier. Her green hair almost glowed in the moonlight, a bright splash of colour against the hazy brown and grey tones of the wall behind her.

She must have caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye because she suddenly swung her weapon towards him and he half raised his hands in the universal gesture that meant, ‘it’s okay, I’m not a threat.’ Her shoulders relaxed marginally and she gave a short nod, turning her attention back towards the real danger, the approaching lizard creature.

Ianto darted over to her, glanced around the end of the wall, and jerked back behind it.

“They’re both here, Jack,” he hissed into his suit radio.

“The survivors?”

“No, twpsyn, the damned monsters! The other one’s slinking along on all fours, and it’s a lot closer than I’d like.”

“Can you take that one out while I handle the other?”

Ianto rolled his eyes, even though Jack couldn’t see him. “Isn’t that why I’ve got the laser cutter? I don’t want to be shooting at it when you open fire though, I didn’t come this far to have you accidentally blow me to kingdom come. We’ll keep our heads down while you take out your target; with any luck that might distract this one and give me an opening.”

“Understood. You might want to duck. Firing on three. One…”

Ianto tugged at the Rivan woman’s shoulder, urging her down. She looked at him, uncomprehending, a tiny frown creasing her forehead.

“Two…”

Ianto ducked down, pressing as close to the base of the wall as he could, tugging at her again, and she got the message, dropping beside him.

“Three!”

The sound of the plasma gun was a muted roar, and the lizard creature’s snarl turned into an ear-splitting screech as Jack hit his target.

“Let’s see how well you do without a head!” Jack’s voice came clearly to Ianto’s ear.

“No need to sound quite so gleeful,” Ianto responded mildly. “I take it yours won’t be causing any more trouble?”

“Not unless it can grow a new head.”

“Don’t even joke about that. Okay, hold your fire; my turn now.”

Readying the laser cutter, Ianto leapt to his feet, swung around the end of the wall, and came face to face with what he hoped was the last of the monsters. Last time he’d checked it had already been way too close for comfort, but now it was practically on top of him, less than two yards away! It opened its jaws wide as it hissed, malevolent red eyes fixing on him, a string of yellowish green saliva dribbling from the side of its mouth. 

On the plus side, there was no way Ianto could miss at this range; he hit the trigger, firing the laser’s beam straight down the thing’s throat, then sweeping it upwards, cleaving the body in half along its spine so the two sides fell open while remaining joined along the creature’s belly. 

“Take that!”

“Gods, Ianto, watch where you’re aiming that thing!” Jack lunged to one side although in truth the laser’s beam was aimed too low to have even hit the pile of rubble he’d been lying on.

“Sorry, turns out these lizard things are not easily distracted when they’re hunting. It was a lot closer than I was expecting. You alright?”

“Fine, just a bit of warning would’ve been nice. You find the survivors?”

“Only one; someone from the ship. Why don’t you join us?”

“I’m on my way.”

Ianto turned his attention to the woman, now on her feet and watching him curiously. The top of her head only came up to his shoulder. He turned his suit radio to external broadcast and spoke to her in Galactic standard.

“Hello! Ianto Jones, first mate of the Happy Wanderer, at your service. And you are?”

“Hilzen Murfe, captain of the scout ship Izur.” She half-shrugged. “Or I was. Now my crew are dead and my ship damaged beyond repair.”

“I’m sorry for your losses. My partner and I got here as fast as we could.”

“I am grateful. I did not truly believe anyone would come to aid us.”

“Your father encountered some difficulties finding anyone willing to come all the way out here looking for you,” Jack said, joining them, the plasma gun slung over his shoulder.

“My father sent you?”

“You said ‘us’,” Ianto butted in. “Are there other survivors?”

“One other, Emsa, one of the Vilch who stayed to care for the reptiles. There were two, but her mate, Gursa, succumbed to his injuries yesterday. I did all I could for him, but the wounds became infected and I didn’t have the right medicines.”

“You did the best you could in impossible circumstances,” Jack reassured her. “Captain Jack Harkness, of the good ship Happy Wanderer.”

“You said you spoke to my father?”

“I did.” Jack nodded. “He’s the one who hired us for this mission. He’ll be glad to know you’re alive.”

“Would that the rest of my crew were as well, but those monsters…”

“Do you know if there are any more of them? We killed two others earlier, the same kind as these two.”

“I’ve only seen four, and Emsa says the same; four monsters that seemed to hunt in pairs. My science officer had a theory that they could be the four Regli we were told were among the staff left behind to serve as caretakers. She was the last of my crew to be killed, trying to prove her theory. According to Emsa, none of the other staff had seen the Regli since the meteors started to fall. Then the monsters came and started picking them off, one or two at a time. They were unarmed, merely park staff; they had no defence against such creatures.” Hilzen sighed heavily. “By the time my crew and I got here, most of the caretakers were already dead but we didn’t know that. We split up to cover more ground. Maybe if we’d kept together we might have had a chance, but by the time we found Emsa and Gursa and learned what had happened, two of my crew had already been taken. We regrouped, but Curren Sarde, my second in command, fell covering out retreat from two of the creatures; he gave his life to save us.”

“A brave and noble sacrifice indeed,” Jack said solemnly. “How long ago…” He couldn’t finish the question, wondering if some of the crew might have been saved if he and Ianto hadn’t wasted so much time on scanning the planet from orbit.

“Erien Gilse, my science officer, perished four days ago. The only reason I survived as long as I have is that Emsa found me while she was searching for food in the ruins of the town. She took me to her hideout, the vault beneath the town’s bank, where she had taken her mate for safety after he was injured in a rockslide. It was the safest place to be; not even the monsters could have breached the vault.”

“But you left that safety,” Ianto pointed out.

“What else could I do? I knew we would never be safe with the monsters stalking Erricam day and night, and we could not stay there indefinitely; we needed supplies, but food is hard to find. I soon realised if we were to have any chance of survival I must at least try to kill the predators, but the weapons I had available were not equal to the task.” She looked ruefully at the gun in her hand. “I was running low on ammunition anyway; if you had not appeared when you did, I think I should be dead. I owe you my life.”

Jack shook his head. “You owe us nothing. We accepted a job, to come to Erricam and search for survivors, and we would have kept searching until every staff member and all of your crew had been accounted for; we don’t leave jobs half done.”

“We should go and collect Emsa, then take both of you back to our shuttlecraft and get off this planet,” Ianto said quietly. “After we lay her mate to rest.”

“Ianto’s right,” Jack agreed. “When we get back to Geminex, your father and the other Reptile Land board members can study the footage from our suit-cams and decide whether or not there’s anything worth salvaging here. Some of the smaller lizards are still alive, although there’s no way of knowing how much longer they can survive.”

Hilzen nodded sharply. “Yes, I would be off the cursed planet as soon as may be. There is too much death here, the lives of too many good people have been lost.”

“We can stop off at your ship, collect anything you want from there,” Jack said. “Plenty of room aboard our shuttle.”

“Thank you, that would be appreciated. There are personal items belonging to my crew that I would return to their families. I would have liked to take their remains also, for proper burial, but perhaps it would be best to allow all the dead to rest together undisturbed. Their bones would bring no comfort to those who loved them.”

“As you wish. Perhaps we can do something for the dead before we depart though. It seems disrespectful to simply leave them as they are.” Ianto looked towards the shattered building where they’d found the remains of both staff and crew less than half a day earlier.

Jack agreed. “We should at least cover them, give them what dignity we can.”

Captain Murfe led the way to the bank vault where they found Emsa patiently waiting. The Vilch had obviously not expected to be rescued any more than Hilzen had, and clasped first Jack’s and then Ianto’s hands, murmuring her gratitude.

“We will leave this place?”

“We will, yes,” Ianto assured her. “Your mate…”

“Gursa will stay, with the others.” Emsa nodded slowly. “It is best. Gursa’s siblings, their mates, all stayed. Gursa would not wish to be parted from them, even in death. I will go, explain to the families, perhaps return someday, help rebuild.” She picked up her mate, wrapped in what looked like a tablecloth from one of the town’s restaurants. “We go. Tend the dead.”

The Vilch was clearly grieving the loss of her mate, but she did so with a quiet, resigned dignity that brought a lump to Ianto’s throat so that for a moment he couldn’t speak.

Jack inclined his head. “I’ll lead the way.”

As the four of them filed out of the bank, Ianto made a brief detour to grab some more tablecloths from the first restaurant they passed. They’d do well enough as shrouds for the rest of the dead. When they reached the other bodies, Emsa laid Gursa beside the largest pile of remains, then helped collect the rest of the scattered bones, adding them to the pile. Working together they covered the dead with the tablecloths before building a rough cairn over them.

Hilzen and Emsa said prayers over their deceased colleagues and friends in their own languages while Jack and Ianto stood by, heads respectfully bowed. Privately, Ianto hoped the dead would be allowed to rest in peace, undisturbed, and that if Reptile Land was ever rebuilt, it would be on some other planet. Happy tourists no longer belonged here; the sound of laughter would feel like sacrilege in the wake of such carnage.

None of the small group looked back as they walked away. The sun was up by now, making their surroundings seem even more bleak and depressing than they had been beneath the light of the two moons. The wreckage of what once had been a beautiful tourist attraction now stood out as a stark and ugly reminder of the destructive power than could rain down from above. The universe could be cruel.

At the Izur, Hilzen went in alone, collecting the personal effects of her crew and passing out bundles to the other three. She joined them at last with her own belongings in a bag slung over her shoulder, having closed the airlock door on her way out. Looking up at her ship, she ran one hand lightly over the battered hull.

“She was a good ship, she served us well, but now my crew is gone and I do not think I have the heart to begin again, with a new ship and a new crew. We were together for more than a decade.”

“What will you do now?” Jack asked.

“Perhaps stay home for a while. I miss the oceans of my world.”

Emsa laid a kind hand on Hilzen’s shoulder. “Purpose returns when grief fades.”

“Yes.” Hilzen’s eyes softened. “Those are wise words, Emsa.”

Wearily they made their way to the Happy Wanderer’s shuttle, securely stowing the bags and placing all firearms, including Hilzen’s gun, in the weapons locker for safety.

They all breathed a sigh of relief once pre-flight checks were completed and the shuttlecraft finally took off, glad to be leaving Erricam and its monsters behind, but knowing it would likely haunt their dreams for a long time to come.

No one spoke during the short flight up to the Wanderer, each of them sunk so deeply in their own thoughts that it almost came as a surprise when the ship’s bulk loomed ahead of them, the shuttle bay opening to welcome them inside as they approached.

As the doors closed automatically and clamps locked the shuttle in place Jack broke the silence. “Next stop Geminex Space Station.” He turned to address their two passengers. “Ianto will show you to your quarters, then perhaps when you’ve both had a chance to freshen up you’ll join us on the bridge. I can put a call through to your father,” he told Hilzen.

She nodded slowly. “I thank you, it would ease my heart to speak with him.”

OoOoOoO

“Another mission completed,” Ianto said, joining Jack on the bridge a short while later having settled their guests into two of the Wanderer’s passenger cabins.

“I notice you didn’t say ‘successfully’,” Jack observed.

“Was it a success? Only two survivors out of twenty-seven people.”

“Two is better than none. We did everything we could, Ianto.”

“I know, but still… All those people died horrible deaths; they survived being bombarded by asteroids only to be killed and eaten by… things that might have once been their friends, peaceful, civilised people evolved by some unknown means into monsters. Who’s to say the same thing might not happen on some other planet unlucky enough to be in the path of that comet?”

Jack sighed. “It could happen, but bear in mind only the Regli appear to have been affected, there must have been something in their body chemistry that made them susceptible, and perhaps the samples you took will help scientists figure out what. We did everything we could,” he repeated.

Ianto slumped down in his seat, nodding slowly. “I know we did.”

Difficult as that was to accept, it would have to be enough.

The End


End file.
